Hello everyone, as I've posted previously my Father passed away recently, but it has come to my attention that long ago (avout 15 years) my mother gave a gun of his to a friend of hers. Now I don't care about the ethics or legality of that now, so please don't discuss it.

Now, I'm helping my Mother by taking care of this same friend, now he's shown me his gun collection and I've come across a gun that I am 99% sure is my Father's, a Rossi .357 revolver in stainless steel. What do I do? My dad always talked about loving that gun and wanting it back (he and this friend were estranged). Do I say something? Ask if it's the same gun? If it Is do I ask for it back? Do I just let it go?

Someone help me please.

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I'd want it back. Simply ask him if it's your father's. Unfortunately, if he says no, you're pretty much SOL. If he says yes, tell him you'd like it back. You may not have much of a legal leg to stand on, but politely asking might get you a long way.

Your Father was still alive at the time your Mother gave her friend the firearm?

It was his responsibility to reclaim it.

If you want the firearm back, then make an offer to acquire it from the owner. He is the rightful owner. It was given to him with no protest from your Father. He has had possession of it for over 15 years.

Whatever the circumstances of the transfer were, fifteen years have elapsed and the gun is now his property. If you want the gun, either receive it as a gift or a purchase between a willing buyer and seller. He can oblige you or not, he's the owner.

I'd want it back. Simply ask him if it's your father's. Unfortunately, if he says no, you're pretty much SOL. If he says yes, tell him you'd like it back. You may not have much of a legal leg to stand on, but politely asking might get you a long way.

In my opinion, this is the only way you can go. If he denys the fact that it's you're fathers, it may not be. It likely is, but you'll never know. I would offer to buy it from him if he denys it is your father's or if he doesn't want to give it up after he tells you it is his. I personally would pay new price for it if that's what it took. Either way, it is his legally now you're counting on the good graces of a this guy.

Just ask if he still has the gun in question and if so could you have it as a reminder of your father. As others have stated he may not wish to gift the firearm to you, he may be willing to sell it to you or he may just want to keep it. What ever his response be gracious and thank him for his time., he may change his mind somewhere down the road.

__________________
Never beat your head against the wall with out a helmet

If you really want to be gracious, explain that you think the gun was your father's, and if so, offer to buy it back from him.

__________________"Once the writer in every individual comes to life (and that time is not far off), we are in for an age of universal deafness and lack of understanding."
(Milan Kundera, Book of Laughter and Forgetting, 1980)

what you might want to do to throw a wider net is mention to him that you remember that one of your dad's pistols came into his possession; explain to him that it's got sentimental value for you and ask to buy it back when he's ready to part with it.
I say this b/c although you re 99.9% sure that that pistol you saw is your father's, maybe he's using your father's pistol as his bedstand piece. I'm sure he knows where that particular pistol is. It's safer than you guessing.

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